There are so many reasons to fall in love with Walt #Disney Studio's latest animated adventure #Moana: It's visually stunning, hilarious, inspiring, touching and educational; in short, it's everything you'd expect from a great Disney movie. But there's one thing that sets it apart from the pack — ahead of Frozen,Tangled, Beauty and the Beast — a factor that catapults the genre into 2017 and demands the film gets a #sequel — princess Moana.

'I'm not a princess — I'm the daughter of a chief!'

Moana [Image: Walt Disney Studios]

Moana is the first Disney movie — and its titular Disney princess — to not be tied, rumored, or affected by a love interest; Moana is a kick-ass princess who's far more interested in leading her community and exploring the world than becoming caught in a conventional romance web. She doesn't need a prince to "save" her, she's entirely capable of saving herself, and does so many times throughout the movie — delving deep into her well of strength to push her adventure forward. In a studio filled with Belles and Prince Charmings, this character is a fantastic and much needed role-model.

'Do you know who Maui is? Only the greatest demigod in all the pacific islands!'

Maui [Image: Walt Disney Studios]

Exploring what it means to be a young woman undefined by a romantic interest, and what it means to be a hero are topics with endless potential and solid starting points for a #Moana2. But it's not just the strength of the protagonist that would make this narrative ripe for extending and expanding into a franchise; Moana is steeped in Maui myth.

Maui, voiced by #DwayneJohnson, is a Polynesian demi-god and the potential for his character development is immense; Maui mythology is such a vast field that the character could even get a stand alone movie one day. So vast in fact, we've made a video explaining all the key points for you:

Disney Animation Studios Has Oceans Of Time To Create A Sequel

[Image: Walt Disney Studios]

Well, that might be a slight exaggeration, but hear me out. Between now and 2020, Walt Disney Studios has a bunch of animated titles coming our way, but most of these will hail from Pixar: Cars 3, Coco, Toy Story 4, Gigantic and The Incredibles 2. In fact, within the next four years Disney Animation Studios (the team behind Moana) is only slated for a handful of movies: Frozen 2, which is rumored for release at the end of 2017, Wreck It Ralph 2 (March, 2018) and two untitled projects — one toward the end 2018, and one in 2020. It wouldn't be too far fetched to assume that one of these empty slots will be filled by Moana 2.

And what's more, Moana has just proven to be box office gold — sailing to the top of the charts with ease this Thanksgiving, banking $81.1 million over the five-day weekend. And when has Disney ever not sequel'd a movie that's performed that well, eh?